Rejection
by AidynmageReturned
Summary: There is a new girl in Ms. Bitters' class, Libby. Despite her bad attitude, Dib falls for her. However, Zim seems to have mistaken Libby for someone else.. *Chapter Nine up* Yes! I UPDATED! WHEE!
1. Libby

Rejection Chapter One  
  
DISCLAIMER: All the characters here except Libby belong to Jhonen Vasquez. Libby is a character I came up with while not paying attention in class. Thank you.  
  
  
  
"Zim! Get back here, you pathetic alien scum!"  
  
School had been dismissed five minutes ago, and as always, Dib was chasing Zim around.  
  
"I'll catch you! Then I'll prove to the world that you're an- Gah!"  
  
Dib had run straight into someone, and they'd both fallen over.  
  
"Uh, um, sorry, sorry," he chattered apologetically. He reached over to help the person up, but they were already standing. He looked up, seeing a red-haired girl with blue eyes. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was dressed in a similar way to Dib.  
  
"Um, I don't think I know you..."  
  
"Correct. You don't," the girl said. "And I don't think you want to."  
  
She spoke with a British accent, and her voice was cold and uncaring, like Gaz's. It made Dib uneasy to hear it, and they way she glared at him didn't help much. After a moment, she left, heading towards the school. Dib watched her until she entered the building.  
  
"Why are you standing there?" someone asked, bringing Dib back to reality.  
  
"Uh, no reason," he half-shouted, and then took off towards his house.  
  
  
  
The next morning, Dib sat in class. Ms. Bitters was shouting angrily into a telephone. Moments later, she slammed it down, and it went up in flames.  
  
"Class," she hissed, "We're getting a horrible new student. She has a horrible attitude and no friends. She, like all of you, is NOTHING! And she will amount to NOTHING, just as all of you horrible creatures will."  
  
The door opened, and the new student entered the room. Dib began to panic when he saw her.  
  
It was the girl from yesterday. 


	2. Why have you come to torment ZIM!

Rejection Chapter Two  
  
The girl stood at the front of the glass, glancing around the room. Finally, she looked straight ahead.  
  
"My name is Libby. I suggest you all just leave me alone, and we'll get along fine."  
  
She casually walked to the empty desk behind Dib, and sat there. Libby apparently recognized him, because on her way to the desk she had given him more than one death-glare. Dib tried to concentrate on the terrifying subject Ms. Bitters had assigned a report on, but it was to no avail. He couldn't stop thinking about Libby for some reason, her accent, her eyes, and it was beginning to disturb him.  
  
"I cannot put up with this any longer!" Zim shouted suddenly. He stood on the desk, pointing at Libby, who didn't seem to notice anything. He ran across the desks until he was standing on Libby's desk.  
  
"TAK! You have returned to torment ZIM! Why do you torment meee?"  
  
"Tak? Who is this Tak?"  
  
"Libby doesn't even resemble Tak, Zim," Dib snapped. "Besides, Tak's accent wasn't as nice- I mean, as heavy as Libby's."  
  
He sort of withdrew, in order to avoid anything Libby might say, but it was doubtful she even heard. Instead, she was preoccupied with glaring at Zim.  
  
"Tak, you will never, ever win! I am ZIM! Almighty ZIM!"  
  
"First of all, get off my desk," snapped Libby. "Second of all, I am not this Tak girl, nor am I associated with whoever she is. I suggest you leave me alone."  
  
By now, the whole class was staring right at Zim.  
  
"Zim, shut up," Brian said. "Tak moved back, remember? You're such a weirdo."  
  
"Weirdo? Zim is no weirdo! I am a normal human worm-baby just like the rest of you, Libby included."  
  
Faster than you could say "stupidity", Libby had knocked Zim off her desk and stomped on him rather hard several times.  
  
"AAARRGHHH! MY SQUEEDLY-SPOOCH!"  
  
"Do not insult me. This Tak person is gone, and I am not her."  
  
She kicked him for good measure, then sat back down and resumed doing her schoolwork.  
  
"And that, class," hissed Ms. Bitters, "is a perfect example of why you're all doomed. Go home now!"  
  
Because of Zim's outburst, no one had realized that the bell had rung several minutes ago. They all picked up their books and left, leaving Zim twitching on the floor. Libby left after everyone else did, stepping on Zim as she left. Dib followed her.  
  
"Uh, Libby, right? That was, well, cool the way you attacked Zim. You see, he's one of my mortal enemies and he's an alien and stuff."  
  
Libby turned to Dib, and smiled, surprising him.  
  
"I feel good about how today went," she said, and walked off. 


	3. Exposed

Rejection  
  
Chapter Three  
  
DISCLAIMER: All the characters except Libby belong to Jhnen Vasquez (I heard he murdered the 'o' in his name)  
  
Dib awoke the next morning to the smell of smoke. Gaz had lit the kitchen on fire again, and she didn't bother to douse the flames. Dib put out the fire, nearly burning his eyebrows off. He dragged himself back upstairs and got dressed. After he checked to make sure that the house wasn't going to burn down, he grabbed his camera and set out towards Zim's house.  
  
"Another perfect Saturday," he thought. "Maybe I'll get some real proof today!"  
  
As he turned the corner, he heard someone shouting.  
  
"Zim, get off me! I'm not this Tak piece of filth!"  
  
"You are Tak! And you're trying to take my mission! Or my robot bee!"  
  
"What are you talking about? What "mission" are you talking about?"  
  
That voice was unmistakable. Zim had cornered Libby again, and he was about to be severely injured, according to Libby's tone of voice.  
  
"Zim!" Dib shouted, sounding unnecessary, "Leave Libby alone!"  
  
Libby glared at him, her eyes colder than they'd ever been, if that was even possible.  
  
"I can handle him myself. Why are you here?"  
  
"Uh, wrong turn?"  
  
"Get away, Dib-monkey," Zim snapped. "Tak, stop denying that you are here to defeat the great- ACK!"  
  
Libby knocked Zim down, and kicked him across the street. In doing so, she knocked off one of his contact lenses. As she was about to kick him again, Zim opened his eyes. Libby stared, and then pulled off the other lens.  
  
"What ARE you?" she asked, all confidence leaving her voice. Zim's wig fell of, and he lay on the ground stupidly, exposed.  
  
"Ha!" Dib shouted. He began snapping pictures of Zim rapidly. Libby turned and knocked the camera out of his hands.  
  
"Forget that! What is this thing?"  
  
"He's an alien! And you just destroyed my proof!"  
  
"How could you be so inconsiderate?"  
  
As Dib and Libby argued, Zim dragged himself up.  
  
"GIR, get me inside!"  
  
GIR came running out, also not disguised.  
  
"May the bird of paradise fly up your nose!" GIR shouted gleefully, then activated his jet boosters and dragged Zim to his house, which was right across the street.  
  
"I live next door to an ALIEN?" Libby screamed, and promptly fainted. Dib caught her, and he took her back to her house. After Libby's mother had taken her inside, Dib ran home, forgetting his camera.  
  
  
  
"Dib, get up you lazy sloth!"  
  
"Gaz?"  
  
"No, Bigfoot. Of course it's me, moron. There's one of your so called friends waiting for you downstairs."  
  
Gaz left, and Dib sluggishly got up, and went downstairs. His hair was a mess and his glasses were hanging off one ear, so he didn't recognize the visitor.  
  
"Dib, I need to talk to you."  
  
"Libby?"  
  
"It's about that Zim thing. What on earth is he?"  
  
Dib put his glasses on correctly, and looked at Libby.  
  
"You really do live next door to an alien. He's trying to conquer Earth, but he has yet to succeed in anything he's done."  
  
Dib realized what he'd said. Although he had never given it much thought, Zim was a complete and total failure.  
  
"And he has tried a lot of things. Giant hamsters, tampering with the past, and on one occasion, he turned me into human bologna."  
  
Libby raised an eyebrow at that statement, and Dib smirked stupidly.  
  
"It's true, I swear. After seeing him without his costume, you've got to believe me. I certainly hope you do, because no one else does."  
  
She didn't respond.  
  
"You know, I really like you."  
  
That got her attention. Libby glared at him; the attitude present in her eyes. Why did Dib tell her that, of all stupid things he could have said?  
  
"I'm leaving."  
  
"Libby, let me say one thing. Don't tell anyone about Zim, they won't believe you, and you'll run the risk of ending up like me."  
  
"I don't want that to happen."  
  
With that final statement, she left. Dib immediately returned to his room and began banging his head on the wall.  
  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" 


	4. Dream

Rejection Chapter Four  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters except Libby belong to Jhonen Vasquez, Nickelodeon, and Viacom. There might be some other big corporations that they belong to, but oh well. Libby was dreamed up to suit a need for humiliating Dib. (Dib: "Hey, watch it! One of the reviewers gave me a mallet!") Freakydreams.com is a real dream analysis site.  
  
"Stop it! Please, just let me go!"  
  
"Never! You are a prisoner now, human stink-beast!"  
  
"I haven't done anything to you! Why didn't you go after HIM?"  
  
"The Dib-worm? Ha! He is not currently a threat. The base is completely secure, and you aren't leaving!"  
  
"But why me? What have I done to make you do this?"  
  
"You know too much."  
  
Zim reaches over and flips a switch. A scream is heard, and the prisoner hangs limp in her restraints.  
  
"One down, one to go."  
  
Dib woke up screaming. It had been a week since Libby came over, and all week at school she had either ignored him or threatened to destroy him. But now, he had been having this strange, misty dream every night since.  
  
***************************************************************** A couple blocks away, GIR had kidnapped Gaz and tied her to a chair.  
  
"Wheeee! I'll bake the cake!" he shouted, and ran off.  
  
"I will destroy that ROBOT. And this entire base. I will not rest until they go up in FLAMES!"  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
"Freaky dreams dot com," he muttered while he typed. Dib had somehow taught himself to type without looking at the keyboard over many years of computer over usage. Not that the school had a typing class anyway, so most people around here were self-taught.  
  
The page came up, and Dib typed in the dream. "You're very concerned for the safety of this person," it read, "Perhaps you like them more than even you think you do. A crush, perhaps?"  
  
"The heck? I don't have a crush on Libby!"  
  
At least that's what you TELL yourself, came that nagging voice in the backs of people's minds.  
  
"Shut up," Dib snapped, pulled on his trench coat, and walked downstairs.  
  
******************************************************** "Lookit, purple hair! I brought my bestest friend!"  
  
GIR was holding a rather muddy pig up over his head. He threw the pig on the couch, and turned on the TV.  
  
"SCARY MONKEY! I love this show.."  
  
"LET ME GO," ordered Gaz.  
  
But GIR couldn't hear her.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
"Gaz, I'm leaving. Not that you really care."  
  
There was no response.  
  
"Gaz?"  
  
****************************************  
  
A few blocks away, Gaz was walking home, Zim's base aflame behind her. The wind blew, fanning the flames, and the neighboring house caught fire.  
  
A girl's scream was heard. 


	5. Why do you care?

Rejection Chapter Five  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters except Libby belong to the genius that is Jhonen Vasquez.  
  
  
  
Dib ran along the sidewalk as fast as he possibly could. He had seen the smoke and heard the scream. As he turned down a familiar street, it soon became evident where the fire was.  
  
"Waaahh! Big-head boy! Save meee!"  
  
A frantic and screaming GIR ran out of the burning base and grabbed onto Dib's leg with an unbreakable grip. Dib tripped, and fell to the ground, GIR still crying and clinging to him.  
  
"Get off!"  
  
Then, a scream rang out. Turning, Dib saw that the neighboring house had also caught fire. Libby's house. And she was in trouble, based on her screams. Dib ran towards the house, and kicking the door open, raced inside and up the stairs. GIR was screaming more than ever now, the flames all around making him panic. He refused to let go of Dib's leg, and he tripped him. They both fell down the stairs, crashing through part of the drywall at the bottom. Dib fell first, and hit his head against the support beam hard. GIR landed on him, let go, and ran out the door screaming.  
  
"Someone help..." The statement started as a shout and Libby's voice faded to a whisper. A soft thud revealed she had passed out, most likely from the combined influence of panic and smoke inhalation. Dib dragged himself to his feet and ran up the stairs into Libby's room. She was slumped against the wall near the open window, flames moving dangerously close to her. Dib ran over, and lifted her up. Walking towards the stairs, he felt extremely light headed.  
  
"Libby...I tried....don't say I...."  
  
He collapsed in the hallway, still holding Libby.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dib awoke on the couch in the Membranes' living room. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see his home, and not somewhere else.  
  
"Gaz? Dad? Anyone?"  
  
There was no response.  
  
"Hello? Am I alive?"  
  
Once again, there was no response. Dib sat up slowly, realizing that there was no way he was still alive. Yet, here he was, in his house..  
  
"Shut up, Dib. I'm playing my game."  
  
Okay, maybe he was alive.  
  
"Gaz, how did I get here?"  
  
"Some emergency guys came, said they were taking you to the hospital. They made me lose my game, so they decided to leave you here, after I was through with them."  
  
Dib chose to ignore that, knowing all to well what she meant.  
  
"What happened to Libby?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"You know! Red hair, blue eyes, accent, trenchcoat."  
  
"They didn't say anything about her. Now shut up so I can win my game."  
  
Dib jumped off the couch, and looked at himself. He was perfectly fine, aside from rips in his trenchcoat and his head hurting horribly. But there was blood on his hands, and based on his lack of cuts, scrapes, or wounds, it wasn't his. Scrambling to the door, he threw it open, ran out, and promptly crashed into someone else.  
  
"L-Libby! But how-"  
  
"Escaped from the hospital."  
  
"The hospital?"  
  
He showed her his bloodstained hands, and as he began to speak again, Libby interrupted.  
  
"They said you'd tried to rescue me," she said. Rolling up the sleeve of her trenchcoat, she motioned to a large, bloody gash. "Slipped, cut it on something when I collapsed from smoke inhalation. Exactly what is beyond me. But, there's something rather odd that I must show you. Come on."  
  
Dib followed Libby down several streets. He was pretty sure they were lost when they came down the street she lived on, but from the other side of where he normally turned onto it.  
  
"Look," Libby said, pointing towards her house and Zim's base. Both looked as if nothing happened.  
  
"What the.....But how? Both areas burned down!"  
  
She shook her head, and then looked at Dib.  
  
"The fire started from some stuff in Zim's base, and he decided to cover the whole thing up by rebuilding both houses. He tried hypnotizing the neighbors, but I doubt that worked. I never thought an alien would be that stupid, and it's a disappointment after waiting so many years."  
  
Dib smiled, meeting Libby's eyes, and she sort of withdrew, realizing she'd said too much.  
  
"I ought to, uh, leave," she said, and began walking off. Dib followed her silently for about ten minutes before she turned around and noticed him.  
  
"Still here?" she asked, unintentionally sounding mean.  
  
"Yeah. It's a shame that I exist, huh?"  
  
Libby kicked at a pebble on the ground, unresponsive. Dib had followed her rather far into the forest behind her house, and it was dark now. The moon and stars shone with an almost unnatural light, making their appearances ghostlike.  
  
"I've believed in the paranormal since I was little. They told me I was crazy, it got worse after my parents got divorced and my father started working for some science place. I moved here, no one likes me," she rambled, staring off into space. "I don't like them; I haven't cared about anyone since I was three. I tried to kill myself at least five times."  
  
She stopped talking for a moment. Her sleeves were still rolled up, and she traced a long scar down her wrist with her finger.  
  
"Dib?"  
  
"Yeah?" "Why do you care?"  
  
"Because. You're a lot like me, Libby."  
  
She didn't respond. Instead, she continued drawing her fingers down the length of the scar, almost hypnotically.  
  
"I don't like myself much." 


	6. Armed with a squirt gun

Rejection Chapter Six  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters except Libby belong to Jhonen Vasquez. AS far as I know, no one uses the AOL screenname DeadSoul666. ZombieDib is one of my extra screennames.  
  
  
  
"I don't like myself much," Libby said wistfully. Several strands of her hair had fallen into her eyes, the moonlight making it glimmer. A long moment of silence followed her statement.  
  
"I don't like you either, wormbaby!"  
  
Zim's voice was heard as he crashed through the bushes into the clearing. Gir, in full SIR mode, had followed him, looking angry.  
  
"You almost made me blow my cover, stink-beast. I had to rebuild over half of my base!"  
  
"Couldn't I blow your cover even more now? I mean, you're not even disguised.."  
  
"SILENCE, WORMBABY! You will not be here long enough to stop ZIM!"  
  
"Leave her alone, Zim!"  
  
"Shut up," Libby snapped. "I'll handle him myself."  
  
Zim pulled a laser gun, and shot. He missed miserably, cutting down a tree and traumatizing a few squirrels for life. Libby picked up a branch from the fallen tree and swung it at Zim. She hit him upside the head with it, knocking the laser out of his hands and into a small puddle of water.  
  
"Curses! GIR, attack the stink-beast!"  
  
"Only if you dance with meee," the robot responded gleefully, no longer in SIR mode. Libby took advantage of Zim's distraction, and used the stick to knock him into the puddle, where he began burning and screaming. Libby kicked him across the grass, and into a tree. By the time she had finished, Zim was unconscious and fizzing, Gir was oblivious to the entire situation completely, and the steel toe of Libby's boot had a trace of green Irken blood on it.  
  
"You see, Dib, I'm not helpless," she said, and ran off towards her house. Dib went the other way, and came out on the other side, right behind his house. He entered quietly, and as soon as he was fully inside, Gaz was glaring at him.  
  
"You're LATE," she said angrily. "We were SUPPOSED to see Dad at Bloaty's Pizza Hog tonight, but YOU had to stay out and RUIN it." "Uhh..sorry?" he mumbled, before fleeing from his vicious sister and into his room. He leaned against the door as she pounded on it, as if trying to knock it down.  
  
"I WILL destroy you, Dib," Gaz hissed before leaving.  
  
Dib walked over to the nightstand and switched on the light, grabbing a book about the Loch Ness Monster from off the shelf. As he sat down at his computer desk, he looked up to see the instant messenger icon flashing.  
  
"You have received a message from user "DeadSoul666". Accept? Y/N."  
  
Dib stared. He normally did not receive messages from strangers, and used the program mostly to report sightings. Warily, he clicked "accept".  
  
DeadSoul666: Hello? DeadSoul666: Reply DeadSoul666: are you there? DeadSoul666: Did your precious Mothman burn your eyes out?! DeadSoul666: Dib?  
  
Dib realized who it was, and typed a reply.  
  
ZombieDib: Libby? DeadSoul666: yea. DeadSoul666: Took you forever ZombieDib: Why are you IM'ing me? DeadSoul666: You know when Zim attacked me tonight, right? ZombieDib: Yes. What about it, O Fearless One? DeadSoul666: shut up if you plan on living DeadSoul666: It wasn't Zim ZombieDib: It HAD to have been Zim DeadSoul666: It wasn't. This one was female. ZombieDib: How could you tell? DeadSoul666: She had eyelashes and her antennae were curled DeadSoul666: and her eyes were blue ZombieDib: blue? DeadSoul666: yes. DeadSoul666: meet me in front of Zim's house DeadSoul666 signed off at 11:55:06  
  
Dib shut off the computer, grabbed his camera, and ran.  
  
Several minutes later, Dib and Libby stood in front of Zim's base. Libby tossed a rock in among the lawn gnomes. The shot their laser guns, and destroyed themselves. Dib had his camera on, and was recording the whole thing. Libby ran up and threw the door open.  
  
"Hiya, big head boy! Hiya weird foot girl!" GIR shouted, referring to Libby's boots.  
  
"Quiet!" Libby snapped as Dib led her towards the secret entrance to Zim's lab. As they walked in, Gir followed them.  
  
"What'cha doing, big head boy?" the little robot asked excitedly. This was enough for Zim to hear and realize something was up. He walked down the narrow hall, spotting Libby and Dib with Gir clinging to his head.  
  
"Gir! How did the HUMAN stinkbeasts get in here?"  
  
"I dunno!"  
  
"Zim," Dib shouted, "What do you know about a female Irken?"  
  
"With blue eyes," Libby added.  
  
"FOOLS! I am the only Irken on this planet- wait- BLUE eyes?!"  
  
Dib nodded, and began to speak, but Zim interrupted.  
  
"Selphy! It was HER, Invader Selphy! Computer!"  
  
"Whaddya want from me?!" came the apathetic voice of Zim's computer.  
  
"Scan the nearby area for all Irken life-forms," he commanded, and then turned to Dib and Libby. "Now to deal with you, human stinkbeasts."  
  
He began to approach the two humans threateningly, when his computer interrupted.  
  
"Irken life form detected! Female, blue eyes. Age two hundred seventy-two."  
  
Zim stopped his approach, stunned. He actually looked scared for a moment, before shaking himself out of it. "How close is she?"  
  
The computer did not respond. There was no need. Zim stood staring, clearly frozen with fear.  
  
The blue eyed Irken stood behind them, pointing a squirt gun straight at Zim.  
  
Dib and Libby nearly burst out laughing. 


	7. Go on, Dib

Rejection Chapter Seven  
  
Dib and Libby nearly burst out laughing. The female Irken held a squirt gun aimed directly at Zim, who was cowering in fear. A SIR unit stood behind her, weapons at the ready. All remained silent for a long moment.  
  
"Surprised to see me, Zim?" the Irken asked, breaking the prolonged silence. "You knew I'd come. You knew that I was stranded here."  
  
"But you DIED! Invader Selphy died!"  
  
"I am alive and well, Zim. I never died; I've lived in the wreck of my Voot Runner for seventy years. Missy and I were able to fix it," Selphy said, motioning to the SIR, "enabling us to come after my revenge."  
  
Selphy pushed the button on the squirt gun, and a small jet of water struck Zim square in the forehead. He immediately began burning, and he ran about screaming with pain while Selphy laughed.  
  
"He's allergic to water?" Libby whispered to Dib. He nodded. Selphy continued to fire the squirt gun at Zim until he fell to the ground in terrible pain.  
  
"Libby, let's get out of here," Dib muttered. Before either one could move, Selphy turned suddenly.  
  
"You aren't going anywhere, humans. Because of you, I had to rebuild all of that horrid Earth architecture! Plus, you know way too much already. Missy, eliminate them!"  
  
The SIR fired her lasers at Dib and Libby, who barely managed to dodge them. As the SIR prepared to fire again, Gir jumped in front of her.  
  
"HI!"  
  
The lasers bounced off of Gir's head, hitting the already weakened Zim, who screamed. Green blood flowed across the floor. Gir didn't seem to notice the sticky green substance as he continued to attempt starting a conversation with Missy.  
  
"What's YOOOOOUUR name? Do you like the scary monkey show?"  
  
While Missy tried to get Gir away from her, Dib and Libby had gone over to inspect Zim.  
  
"He still has a pulse," Libby said, "but he's going to bleed to death."  
  
"And we're going to be left facing an actually competent alien." "Shut up, stinkbeast," Zim muttered. "Mighty Zim cannot die this way! The Tallest-"  
  
He rolled over in his own blood, no longer moving. Selphy walked towards the lifeless alien, grinning. She kicked the body, spreading some blood, and laughed coldly. Missy had succeeded in getting GIR to get away from her. GIR himself stood staring at the bloody mess. It took him about three minutes to figure out what had happened, and when he did, he promptly began running in circles and screaming. The little robot eventually came to hang on to Dib protectively.  
  
"Big-head boy, fix it!"  
  
"Quiet, you!" Selphy shouted. Missy shot a laser at Gir, but missed, and he started screaming again.  
  
"Forget the stupid SIR! Kill the human beasts!"  
  
Another laser shot, and Dib, using Gir as a shield, deflected the beam back at Missy. It hit, knocking her memory chip out. It skidded across the floor and landed near Dib's foot. He stepped on it, looking at Selphy.  
  
"Leave now and I won't destroy this."  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
"I will destroy this, obviously. Take it and get out. You had your revenge."  
  
He roughly kicked the chip back to the blue eyed alien. She picked it up, and ran.  
  
"Dib, what are we going to do with Zim's body?"  
  
"Well, we could give it to Mysterious Mysteries. I mean, why SHOULD we bury him? He came here trying to take over this planet. It was a false mission, too. His leaders wanted him dead."  
  
"And maybe you'd get the respect you deserve."  
  
Stunned at hearing those words from Libby of all people, he just kind of stared at her, aghast. She was not the type of person to support or encourage anyone, least of all an outcast like Dib.  
  
"The people around here are naïve," she continued. "They can't see the proof of anything, though it sits right in front of them. Although it would be unethical of you, I want you to take this to Mysterious Mysteries, Dib."  
  
  
  
Libby leaned in and kissed Dib on the lips, and then she stood, looking at him for a moment. Her icy blue eyes were intimidating from that point of view, harsh and cold.  
  
"Go on, Dib."  
  
He nodded, stunned, and also stood. He picked up the body, which was surprisingly light, and then turned and ran without looking back.  
  
He should have, though. 


	8. HI, FLOOR!

Rejection  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters except Selphy and Libby belong to the almighty Jhonen Vasquez. Sorry about this chappy's shortness.  
  
  
  
He'd done it. He had run through the streets carrying the dead alien, blood dripping onto the pavement. People had stared and some had tried to stop him, but he kept going.  
  
And he made it.  
  
All the way across town to where Mysterious Mysteries was broadcast from, carrying the bloody corpse. He had burst into the room where the show's host was, and presented him with Zim's dead body.  
  
Later that night, it was made public to the world. Something many people already knew.  
  
Aliens existed.  
  
The next day, they tracked down and found Selphy. They ran tests on her, further verifying the evidence. She died in the laboratory, the same one where Zim's autopsy was broadcast live. Missy was deactivated and taken apart, as was most of Zim's lab. The rest became a UFO museum.  
  
But little of the credit actually was given to Dib. He had his spotlight for awhile, but then the world's attention turned back to the scientists and he was forgotten.  
  
But he sure taught his father a lesson. Dib had enjoyed his apology and press release after he had examined Zim's body and base, as well as Selphy.  
  
That was seven years ago.  
  
Now, the twenty-two-year-old Dib sat looking out the window of his apartment. It was raining extremely hard, and he had to stay here all day. As if he had anywhere else to go. He decided to check his e-mail, for lack of better things to do.  
  
"What'cha doin'?" shouted Gir as soon as Dib sat at his computer desk. He had kept the little robot since Zim had died, and he proved to be very good company. He needed it, after Libby suddenly moved away without warning, seven years back.. Her disappearance and Selphy's death had occurred on the same day, October the ninth. Dib's birthday.  
  
"Nothing, really, Gir." "YAY! Can I watch?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
Dib signed onto AIM, but no one was online. Not surprising, considering how few contacts he had. He checked his e-mail. Nothing but the daily compilation of messages from his paranormal MSN communities. If Libby was still alive, he'd have gotten something from her by now.  
  
But then he remembered. Shortly after her disappearance, he'd changed e- mails. There was no way she'd have known. Quickly, he logged into the site under his old screen name, one he barely remembered. There were ninety new messages, most junk mail. But after he'd deleted all the junk, he'd been left with about twenty e-mails, the most recent being three years ago. He clicked the subject line, and it came up.  
  
Dib,  
  
I want to know why you haven't been responding to my e-mails. I'm coming back to town on your birthday, and I was hoping we'd meet.  
  
Libby  
  
He closed the window, jerking his arm so suddenly that he nearly knocked Gir off his shoulder.  
  
"HI FLOOR! LET'S PLAY CHESS!" 


	9. The Familliar

Rejection  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
DISCLAIMER: All chars except Selphy, Missy, Libby, etc. belong to Nickelodeon. M'yep. That they do.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Previous chappy said it was seven years ago. It was actually nine.  
  
Almost three hours later, Dib had boarded a plane to his home town, for what good it would do. He seriously doubted that Libby would be there, yet something made him feel compelled to go. Looking out the window and sighing, he remembered the day in Zim's house, the last time he'd seen Libby. She'd moved out literally right after Dib had taken in the alien's body, and he still didn't know where or why she'd left.  
  
A scream came from a little ways off. It seemed that GIR had located a stewardess. That would keep the little robot busy for awhile, giving Dib some time to think. His mind went back to that day, nine years ago.  
  
*He knocked on the door.  
  
"Libby! Libby?"  
  
No one answered. Dib tried the door, which was open. Although feeling like a trespasser, he walked in. Most of the furniture had been left in place; only the computers and other electronic appliances had gone. Upon making his way to what had been Libby's room, Dib found it empty aside from a small table in the corner, scattered with papers across the tabletop and on the floor around it. Looking, the papers turned out to be typed and written documents, all of a paranormal nature. Dib picked up one of the sheets and began to read.  
  
"I find it feasible to reason that telepathic messages could somehow be sent via electrical signals, much like reflex responses."  
  
He remembered that theory. Libby had discussed it with him only a few nights before. Putting down the sheet, he noticed a few drops of dried blood on another. Grabbing it and looking it over, Dib found it to be a hastily written note.  
  
"Dib, if you're reading this, I'm way gone. They came, said I knew-"  
  
There, it ended abruptly.*  
  
"Master?" came a high-pitched voice, shaking Dib from his memories. "Master!"  
  
"Yeah, what?"  
  
"HI!"  
  
The little robot proceeded to climb on top of Dib's head, wielding a small packet of airline peanuts, which he proceeded to strategically make a terrible mess with. By the time the plane had landed, they had literally become mashed into peanut butter, smeared all over the place. Mumbling an apology to the stewardess, he picked GIR up and got off the plane. The airport was decently close to the UFO museum that Zim's house now was, and a half hour's walk brought him to stand outside of it. It was still open, and perfectly intact, right down to the lawn gnomes and plastic lawn blowfish. But the museum wasn't what he was after. Continuing down the sidewalk, Dib looked at Libby's old house. It appeared to be damaged from fire, but he walked right in anyway. A lot of the furniture had been burned somewhat, and dust had gathered, lying thinner in spots what appeared to once be someone's footprints.  
  
"Probably Libby's" Dib thought. He continued up the stairs and into the bedroom. The windows were still open as they had been, but to Dib's great dismay the table had been knocked over. Many of the papers were gone, leaving only a small pile. These he thumbed through, and they turned out to be the telepathy thesis, a theory on poltergeist phenomena, and several sketches of UFO's and aliens Libby had apparently seen. Among them were drawings of Zim and Selphy, along with their respective SIRs.  
  
"Master, look! It's meeee!" GIR shouted when he saw it. Dib silenced him as he noticed something else behind the upturned table. He picked up a small wooden box, amber in color, and opened it. In it was a plastic bag with strange metal bits marked "UNKNOWN", a piece of wood with strange glyphs in raised lettering on it, odd rubber and foil-like substances. But under all that was an old photo, taken when Libby was twelve. She and a younger Dib stood in the middle of a crop circle, smiling for the camera. He had his arm around her, and she leaned against him somewhat.  
  
Dib shut the box just as a tear feel, landing on the lid. He stood, finding GIR, who had been making pictures in the dust, and left the room, carrying the papers and the box. GIR stayed quiet, something else amusing him, and Dib was thankful for this. It was rather dark as he exited the house, and he felt somewhat scared. He hesitated, then opened the door and walked out. As he went past the UFO museum, he felt a definite presence behind him; one that was oddly familiar. Turning around slowly, Dib came face-to-face with someone he was certain he'd never see again.  
  
"Oh, my god." he whispered, dropping everything he carried.  
  
A horribly twisted, mutated figure let out a weak, wheezing laugh. 


End file.
